Luís Pires, the owner / client / architect / builder himself. He is now also admitted to the Ordem dos Arquitectos, and thus retains the right to exercise his profession in Portugal.
Rodrigo Rufino Jorge is an architect in Benedita. He works closely with Luís and assists through all phases of the project He is our local guy when we are in The Netherlands. Together with Luís they look for local people who can build and deliver.
Cristiano Isabel is a civil engineer in the village of Benedita. His company is called inovEnarbe. He was involved in our project in a very early stage. He calculates the whole designed construction. His input is also immensely valuable for setting up our budget.
O senhor Fernando Rodrigues Lourenço and his daughter Sílvia Lourenço are the contractors of our project. FRL Construções is a family business from Turquel. They build the house, they are responsible for the fundaments, the outer walls and the roof. They build op the inner walls. They install a drainage round about the buildings and on the terrain. Their work is fundamental and they aim for perfection.
Senhor Armando Gouveia is from the company ARTH. He explained all about the PU floors and took us to Lisbon to visit a few projects. We were in a school and were allowed a sneak peak in one of those dream houses only few people can afford.
The men from SFC came to layer a special coat of wax on the finished PU floor. Now we should be able to dance through the house with few maintenance, for a while.
Juvenal Ferreira and his team will work on the suspended ceilings, and also finalize the inner walls. They will lay the wooden floor parts on the verandas and the decks around the pool.
Nuno Duarte Ferreira is also working in a family business: AJM, with his younger brother André and his father António. He is a wizard in electricity and installs the whole technical infrastructure. He understands the endless cables, installations and energy supply. He calculates how many solar panels we need on the roof to get a maximum of energy in return. We can not go completely off the grid, but we are getting close thanks to his knowledge and advise.
PMS Aluminios are also located in Benedita. They are specialized in aluminum and pvc window frames. The quality and specifics of the window frames and glass are determined by the civil engineer. Based on the special needs for house and client. PMS Aluminios then selects an appropriate product. They come and measure each window and to door and then put together frame and glass to the exact measure. They also install all the doors and the huge sliding panels in the living room.
With the specialists of Piscinas Imperial we have discussed endlessly about the possibilities for a nice swimming pool. A bathtub big enough for some real swimming, and fun enough to play in or to just float mindlessly. A saltwater pool, that will be maintained by a special robot pool boy….
D’Avida ó Banho is a company in Cadaval. Rute Gomes offers an extended selection for interior design of flooring and bathrooms. She has helped us with choosing all items for the shower, the toilets, faucets, and all other sanitary facilities.
Normally we would have driven by this store, Alfama Vintage in Porto de Mós. But they were recommended to us by Rodrigo. They have furniture we would not choose. But also a world of professional advice, all kinds for fabrics for curtains, upholstery, bedding etcetera. Sandra Rosa is the expert here, that took us through color schemes and materials. We ordered our own designed couch for the living room, and Sandra had it made in their factory.
DetalheDinverno, a.k.a. the men from Braga. They are making our roofs waterproof with EPDM.
The guys from AML&Filhos can dance with this huge machine! They use the extension of their arms to move stones (with an average weight of 10.000 kilos!) neatly in a line!
Marc Heesterbeek of ubikMH in Amsterdam transformed our designs in renderings. These beautiful images illustrate our thoughts.
We have found and bought our property with the enthusiastic cooperation of Casas Lusas in Cadaval. Levi Maria and Guida Geada accompanied us from initial ideas right through the processing of purchase documents at the notary’s office. They now help us to submit required documents to the city government and other authorities. They advise and think with us to find possibilities and solutions for construction.